Bottle with two vertical ring handles and lid

Clay: light brown stoneware
Glaze: uneven glossy brown; most of lower half of body unglazed and darkened with an iron wash

Historical period(s)
Ayutthaya period, 15th-16th century
Medium
Stoneware with iron glaze; Japanese wooden stopper
Style
Sawankhalok ware
Dimensions
H x Diam: 6.9 × 4.9 cm (2 11/16 × 1 15/16 in)
Geography
Thailand, Sukhothai province, Si Satchanalai, Ban Ko Noi kilns
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1901.86a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Bottle

Keywords
Ayutthaya period (1351 - 1767), Sawankhalok ware, stoneware, Thailand
Provenance

To 1901
Japanese Trading Company, New York to 1901 [1]

From 1901 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Japanese Trading Company in 1901 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 969, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Japanese Trading Company (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Description

Clay: light brown stoneware
Glaze: uneven glossy brown; most of lower half of body unglazed and darkened with an iron wash

Label

Small bottles of this shape were a common product of the Si Satchanalai kilns and probably were intended for holding medicines or precious oils. This bottle, exported to Japan soon after it was made, was used to hold candy pellets served in the tea ceremony. Such bottles were included in sets of miniaturized utensils for preparing tea that would be taken on outings to view cherry blossoms or maple leaves.

Published References
  • Louise Allison Cort, George Williams, David P. Rehfuss. Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia. Washington. .
Collection Area(s)
Southeast Asian Art
Web Resources
Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia
Google Cultural Institute
F|S Southeast Asia
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